shucky

Here we have the valve cover taking shape. Have about 6 hours just in shaping this one by hand Here we have a mostly finished head and valve cover: The thought is to put the head and valve cover in rubber this weekend and make resin copies. This way I only have to make one of each. I will add PE washers to the valve cover to serve as pilot holes after they are resin cast. This will ensure my mounting hardware is lined up correctly all the way around. Additional detailing bits will be added after each is resin cast and primed, painted, etc. More to come!

So the engine compartment is rather tall in this kit and the kit motor is quite tiny. I looked for larger heads and valve covers in the parts box and wasn't satisfied with much. So I set out to scratch build both out of styrene. I'm using the kit engine and trans as a base, shaved down where necessary to accommodate the heads. Here's kinda what I started with: To get the shape I wanted the head required 5 total pieces of styrene and lots of shaping by hand as well work on my mini disc sander: Here you can see the head taking shape as well as some bits of aluminum I was punching out: Here is the final shape of the head as well as some bits of aluminum and styrene that will make up the electric water pump:

Haven't posted a build on here in a while. Needed something to get me out of my modeling slump, so I dug into an old mountain of kits and pulled out this AMT 1994 Mustang. Looked like a decent kit to have some fun with and relatively easy to build. Most work will be in the motor (my favorite) so once that is sorted it should move right along. I'll be using one of my resin drag Prochargers on this one. The kit: Early mock up. Wheels are anodized billet slot car wheels. Front tires are rubber o-rings shaved down on the dremel + slicks out back. LOTS of rake in the mock up

The artograph 1530 can be had for a touch over $300.00 online. I've been researching paint booths for quite some time and this is the one I plan on going with myself.

Thats just it. Printing 3D parts does nothing for your building skills. Some have already proven that here and other forums.

Building models is a hobby, not a job. Scratch building from meaningless shapes of plastic and metal with your bare hands is an art. When you start hitting the "print" button to make your parts there is something missing from what makes this hobby so wonderful. That's not to say 3D printers couldn't be useful but I would look at someone's build quite differently that was assembled with 3D printed parts as opposed to featuring parts that were scratch built with someones hands. Just my opinion.

While I too was excited about this a few years ago when I first heard of it. However, we are still many YEARS away from affordable equipment. You can make mention of the "do it yourself" machines that cost fractions of the big name 3D printers but you certainly have to have the technical know how to operate any of them. Parts are not affordable either, nowhere close to it. When you compare the cost involved now and even in the future between resin casting and 3D printing its not even close. The other thing that got me thinking was what does the future hold for model car builders? A time when you can just "print" the parts you need and assemble them? While that may excite some, what does it say for folks who scratch build many of their parts with their bare hands? So now you have a computer geek (guru?) [no offense to anyone] who can print custom 3D parts and put them together but he cant scratch build anything to save his own life. I've seen it already in its early stages already on various forums. Guys who have the technical know how to create, use, and print their 3D parts but build poor quality models with them. Does not impress me one bit.

Will you be venting it? You may catch an air bubble in the circle of the steering wheel.

Keep in mind this can be taken too far. Sometimes in pics you will pick up something that is totally not visible to the naked eye (regardless of how good your eyesight is) w/out using a magnifying glass. In this case, why fix something or try to fix something you cant technically see w/out a magnifying aid. However, I do use photos a great deal when I'm building and detailing. Whether they are reference pics or pics of a sub assembly that I'm working on.

I thought we were talking about platform sharing which they most certainly do. As for the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger comment I was personally speaking about the V8 versions not the V6 stuff. Around these parts the only car of the three that I've seen women driving are Mustangs. Don't believe I've seen a woman driving any version Camaro or Challenger. I wouldn't say the new Beetle is muscular and dripping with testosterone but it certainly would not be embarrassing to drive as say the previous version. Toyota Solara, now that's embarrassing!

No integration? A Porsche Cayenne is a VW Touareg. The upcoming Porsche Cajun is based on the Q5/A4 platform. The upcoming Porsche 550 will be shared with the VW Bluesport and Audi R4. Its been said Porsche will be involved with chassis architecture across brands yet each will maintain their own distinctive styling.

Staying "on topic" ... I cross shopped a Mustang GT and a VW. Not a Beetle but a GTI. This thread isn't about a Mustang so I'll save my comments on that. And a Camaro was on my short list until I sat in it. As for a Mazda Miata being called cute? Well, maybe. But if you visited any Mazda forums you'll find 99% men driving, modifying, and racing them. Manly men dismiss much anything other than the typical Camaro, Mustang, Challenger type cars ... thats okay. Its those narrow minded people that wound up seeing my turbocharged Miata's tail end. They weren't laughing when it was over.

Its all about selling more cars. Since VW took over Porsche, its them wanting a bigger piece of the pie. The new Beetle has been a huge success and the new new Beetle has fixed much of what was wrong with the previous gen car. IMO the new iteration of the Beetle definitely is not as girly as the previous one. I'm guessing more male buyers will consider the new version whereas before they wouldn't give the Beetle a second look. Plus, the Beetle is basically a GTI with a different body/interior and is finally being offered with VW's outstanding 2.0T. Folks can say what they will about the Beetle, but I'm guessing many a male buyer will dip into the VW parts bin for S3 upgrades, ECU reflashes, downpipes, etc. and wind up with a sleeper 300+ hp car. Lets not forget VW confirmed the R variant of the Beetle for U.S. consumption as well. In closing, I like the newest version and think it will be once again a huge success for VW.

Marcos, the 'Bird is looking really nice. Love the interior and color choice.

John, everything looks fantastic! Paint looks killer, nice job! As for building "cleanly" ... I also wash my hands constantly when detailing/handling as well as wearing soft cotton gloves at times. I no longer use tissue or "napkins" as I've had some texture from those leave their impression on my work piece. Keep up the outstanding work John!

John I think your doing a great job on the build. If this is your way of doing "unrealistic & questionable" I like it. Some folks cant build their best model this bad. Sure I or anyone else could nit-pick any model on a public forum. I've seen poor detailing, over detailing, etc look and display poorly get 10x the praise (friends stroking friends). But, this build whether questionable or not so far is displaying wonderfully (IMO). Keep up the good work.

Just my 2 cents worth, bmf does not like ca glue very much. Poor bond and a resulting poor overall finish. Use devcon 5 minute epoxy if you must.

Just wanted to give a shout out to Hub Hobby in Richfield, MN. My wife and I were in the area last weekend (minutes from Mall of America) and we decided to stop in and take a look. In short, I was blown away at the massive size of this place. The outside appearance is misleading and gives you no idea just how huge this place is. ITS HUGE and if you stop in be sure you have at least an hour or more just to take it all in. In particular, their diecast section, R/C car section, and model section, are some of the biggest I've ever seen anywhere. I'm glad its 5 hours from my house because I'd probably be there killing many hours per week just looking around lol ... For anyone who is passing through or a short drive from them you definitely should stop in and take a look.

I'm a big fan of the Jada kits, lots of potential and you definitely proved that. Has to be one of the best modern day Mustangs I've seen built to date. Extremely awesome build! Nice job.

Lyle, thats a crazy cool effect in that paint. Very nice. I'll have to try that sometime. Lookin' good!

I'm gonna have to agree with Harry. Whether or not the cars themselves (in real life) had opening doors, they were portrayed in the series and made famous for NOT having opening doors.

Justin, glad you got it finished! Sweet build and the engine came out great! Good luck man.

This may offer "realistic operation" but how on earth would this look realistic on a model? A thick piece of styrene with a hole and a wire pin passing through it? What about the unsightly gap of the inner door panel and door skin? The gap looks huge?

Bill those are beyond awesome! Cant wait to see more...

Tim nice job so far! Looking great. If you dont mind some expense ... scalehardware.com has simulated nut/stud pins in many sizes that would suit your needs. Also rbmotion.com has similar machined bits.